Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: The Beatles’ fab catalog gets a much-needed facelift

The Beatles’ catalog was first released on CD in 1987, right around the time most folks began replacing their record collections with the tiny silver discs. The sound was pretty remarkable … for 1987. But over the past 22 years, technological evolution made those albums sound, well, like they were released in 1987. Apple/EMI just remastered and reissued the Beatles’ 13 albums plus the Past Masters collections. Each includes new liner notes and mini-documentaries you can watch on your computer. And they sound great. But how great? Are they worth buying again? Read on.

Please Please Me

What Is It? The Beatles’ debut, loaded with covers from their club days plus a few sterling originals (the title tune, “I Saw Her Standing There”).

Worth Buying Again? Yes. This is the first time the album is available in stereo (With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles for Sale also make their stereo debuts). The group’s youthful exuberance bounces from the speakers.

With the Beatles

What Is It? Beatlemania kicks in, and the band rides its fabness with another mix of covers and originals.

Worth Buying Again? No. “All My Loving” jumps, but there are too many meh moments to justify the upgrade.

A Hard Day’s Night

What Is It? The first Beatles album to include nothing but Lennon-McCartney songs. It’s also the soundtrack to their first movie.

Worth Buying Again? Yes. The acoustic brushes of “If I Fell” nuzzle your ears.

Beatles for Sale

What Is It? Their fourth album in less than two years. Beatlemania begins to take its toll, as the band falls back on some blah covers.

Worth Buying Again? No. There’s some all-grown-up lyrics here, but only “Eight Days a Week” truly pounces.

Help!

What Is It? Ostensibly the soundtrack to their second film and their first creative leap forward.

Worth Buying Again? Yes. The Dylan-influenced “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” has never sounded more intimate.

Rubber Soul

What Is It? The Beatles’ first undisputed classic and the first time they actually structure an album as an album, rather than a collection of songs.

Worth Buying Again? Yes. From the opening “Drive My Car,” the folk-soul blend rings throughout.

Revolver

What Is It? The Beatles’ first major freak-out and the first time they actually used the studio as their playground.

Worth Buying Again? Yes. Both ballads (“Here, There and Everywhere”) and jangly rockers (“And Your Bird Can Sing”) reveal new depths.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

What Is It? One of the greatest albums of all time, soaked equally in ambition and pretension.

Worth Buying Again? Yes. The album’s kaleidoscopic production (especially on “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”) sounds stunning.

Magical Mystery Tour

What Is It? The Beatles at their most self-indulgent, but in a bad way. It’s a TV soundtrack that sounds mostly like Sgt. Pepper leftovers.

Worth Buying Again? No. But all the noises tucked into “I Am the Walrus”’ nooks and crannies sure do pop.

The Beatles

What Is It? The Beatles at their most self-indulgent, but in a good way. The White Album is the sound of the Fab Four breaking apart.

Worth Buying Again? Yes. It’s their most personal set of songs (“Mother Nature’s Son,” “Long, Long, Long”), which now sound even more personal.

Yellow Submarine

What Is It? Another soundtrack, this time filled with awful movie instrumentals by producer George Martin.

Worth Buying Again? No. Unless you really love “Hey Bulldog” and “All Together Now,” there’s nothing here worth buying again.

Abbey Road

What Is It? The last album the Beatles recorded together, highlighted by a side-long suite written primarily by Paul McCartney.

Worth Buying Again? Yes. “Something” is one of George Harrison’s best songs, and it sounds great here. So does John Lennon’s “Come Together.”

Let It Be

What Is It? A failed attempt at resparking the band’s collective live spirit. Hours of messy tapes were remixed by goop-lovin’ producer Phil Spector.

Worth Buying Again? No. The punchier sound merely underlines the schmaltz (but the raw “Two of Us” and “I’ve Got a Feeling” rock harder).

Past Masters

What Is It? Previously two separate CDs of leftover singles and stuff, now combined in a single two-disc package.

Worth Buying Again? Maybe. We can’t hear much difference, but “Day Tripper” sounds zippier, and “Rain”’s psych-out oozes newfound warmth. --Michael Gallucci

REVIEW -- LA ROUX

La Roux

La Roux

(Cherrytree)

Overseas, La Roux (real name: Elly Jackson) is hot shit right now. The 21-year-old Londoner’s dance-club electro-bounce sounds like something from 1983, right when U.S. record companies starting scooping up new-wave divas and selling them to famished music fans as the future. But Jackson and Ben Langmaid -- the other half of La Roux’s creative force – sidestep that whole “future” thing by making their debut album a big bear hug of retro love. The beats are rinky-dink and robotic, the vocals are shrill and flat, and that’s just the way they planned it (the U.K. has detached hipsters too, you know). When JacksonLa Roux halfway lives up to its hype. But most of the time the album soaks in its own synth-pop self-awareness. The real keeper is “Bulletproof,” the song that made La Roux such a big deal in the first place. More of these and she could move beyond the’80s. latches onto a hook – like on the opening “In for the Kill” -- --Michael Gallucci

CULTURE JAMMING -- AUGUST 26

TOP PICK

Radiohead reissues

(Capitol/EMI)

Radiohead’s first three CDs were reissued earlier this year. Here are the next three – all pimped out with an extra disc of live cuts, B-sides and remixes. (The limited-edition sets even tag on a DVD of videos.) Kid A and Amnesiac remain the band’s most challenging and complex work; Hail to the Thief is a knotty exercise in guitar-electro solidarity.

VIDEOGAME

Madden NFL 10

(EA Sports)

Just in time for football season, the perennial favorite returns with its most realistic outing yet. But our favorite version is the least complicated one. Play this game on the Wii, and you’ll point-and-click for passes, move your defensive line with a swish of the remote and make an interception with a shake. You’ll feel just like cover stars Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu.

BOOK

The Original Frankenstein

(Vintage)

We love all the movies, from Karloff on, but nothing beats Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel for sheer chills. This new edition includes the original book plus an 1831 version that features more than 5,000 words added by husband Percy. The story remains one of the all-time greats – a cautionary tale about a man who wants to be a god. Still scary after all these years.

CD

Richard Thompson: Walking on a Wire: 1968-2009

(Shout! Factory)

Thompson has spent the past 40 years as one of the world’s best guitarists and popular-music historians. He started out as a member of British folkies Fairport Convention, hitting his peak with a series of records he made with ex-wife Linda. This four-disc retrospective includes more than 70 songs from his entire career, including some great recent live ones.

DVD

Total Drama Island

(Cartoon Network)

All 27 episodes of the first season of this odd but intriguing series – an animated reality show – get boxed on this four-disc set. It’s pretty much a cartoon version of Survivor, as 22 teens (a jock, a geek, a stoner, etc.) tough it out at a secluded camp. There are plenty of nods to The Real World, Fear Factor and even Iron Chef thrown in for grown-ups. --Michael Gallucci

REVIEW -- YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND: THE SHOW

Yonder Mountain String Band

The Show

(Frog Pad)

Colorado bluegrass-heads Yonder Mountain String Band spin the genre deep into jam-band land on their fifth album. They’ve been doing this for more than a decade, but The Show sounds more like the Grateful Dead than Bill Monroe. The quartet flash their virtuosity at every turn: fancy picking here, speed-of-light fretwork there. They even score a hook or two (“Complicated,” “Dreams”). But on some cuts – like the nearly eight-minute “Honestly” and the closing “Casualty,” which runs more than six minutes – they undercut one of bluegrass’ prime assets: brevity. But that’s the jam band in them taking over. When they stick to the mandolin and banjo strumming they do best, it’s show-offy without the baggage or plodding self-indulgence that usually weighs down the music. --Michael Gallucci

CULTURE JAMMING -- AUGUST 19

TOP PICK

Woodstock – 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur’s Farm

(Rhino)

This exhaustive CD set – six discs, 77 songs – replicates the whole dirty-happy experience better than anything else out there (except for the new Woodstock DVD). More than three dozen cuts have never been released, including songs by the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Who. Plus, there’s plenty of crowd chatter for your next acid flashback.

CD

Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide to Blur

(Capitol/EMI)

These ’90s Britpoppers were more arch, clever and British than most of their contemporaries. This two-disc collection gathers 25 tracks from all seven of their albums. The best of them – like “Girls & Boys” and “Song 2” (the “woo-hoo!” song) – still thrill. The rest reveal a band that wasn’t afraid to play around a little inside the Britpop bubble.

DVD

Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Second Season

(HBO)

Jemaine and Bret still can’t catch a break on the second season of their hit HBO show. They’re still playing gigs in libraries. They still bomb with the ladies. And they’re still writing some of the funniest songs you’ve ever heard. The tunes aren’t as consistently great as the first season’s, but “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor” is a straight-up classic.

VIDEOGAME

G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra

(EA)

The movie is one long videogame, so this tie-in (for pretty much every console out there) makes much more sense than, say, the Burger King toys. It’s basically a third-person shooter with tons of big-ass weapons and cool vehicles at your disposal. But we never get tired of blowing up things. The two-player co-op mode is best.

VIDEOGAME

Wii Sports Resort

(Nintendo)

The Wii Sports game that came with the Wii still gets more replay than any other game in our collection. So we totally love this follow-up. The dozen games include archery, sword fighting, basketball and canoeing. Most of them are as addictive as the first batch. Best of all, the game includes the cool new Wii MotionPlus. --Michael Gallucci

REVIEW -- THE AVETT BROTHERS: I AND LOVE AND YOU

The Avett Brothers

I and Love and You

(American/Columbia)

On their major-label debut, alt-country buzzmakers the Avett Brothers check in with a Grammy-winning producer (Rick Rubin), a newfound sense of scope and a sweeping song cycle about broken hearts, wrecked truths and busted dreams. On a series of indie albums released over the past decade, the North Carolina trio explored the outer fringes of Americana with such genre tools as banjos, fiddles and some serious twang. On I and Love and You, they stock up on tunes and purpose. The piano-ballad title cut sets the tone: all optimism until melancholy sets in. From there, the record weaves in and out of tales about folks getting on with their lives in their own little perfect spaces. It all ends with a song called “Incomplete and Insecure.” In between, brothers Scott and Seth Avett battle their neuroses with huge, gorgeous songs that at times recall Wilco’s Being There – another album that was too big for alt-country confinement. And “Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise” is as close to a mission statement you’ll hear from the Avett Brothers. No explanation necessary. --Michael Gallucci

MOVIE REVIEW -- DISTRICT 9

On the surface, District 9 is about aliens. But its subtext is pretty clear to anyone familiar with segregation. District 9 is about oppression. And standing up for rights. And wanting to go home. It’s a rebel movie, but the rebels are aliens who have been crammed into a South African slum for more than 20 years.

Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp (from a short film he made in 2005), District 9 came together after he and producer Peter Jackson couldn’t get their Halo movie off the ground. And in a way, the kinda creepy and totally bloody District 9 plays a lot like Halo, with some very awesome guns that blast the hell out of anything that gets in their way.

But District 9 is more subtle than the hit videogame franchise, building conflict and a sense of confinement before turning into a limb-severing showdown between military pricks, displaced aliens and a good-guy researcher who’s slowly transforming into one of the creatures.

A massive mothership shows up over Johannesburg one day and then hovers over the city for months. Officials eventually cut their way into the stalled spacecraft and find more than a million scared and starving aliens. They’re derogatorily nicknamed prawns (they resemble six-foot shrimp that stand on their hind legs), given human names (shades of slavery here) and are confined to a rundown part of town called District 9.

Over the years, tensions rise between residents and the prawns, who can’t return to their planet because they ran out of fuel. Then Multi-National United officials – led by enthusiastic and inquisitive Wikus (Sharlto Copley), who has more heart than his big-business bosses – begin handing out eviction notices to the aliens and transferring them to “relocation camps.”

The aliens just want to go home; the military wants to unlock the secrets of their advanced weaponry. And after Wikus is infected during a skirmish with a prawn, he starts turning into one and becomes a target of the increasingly hostile MNU.

It’s not hard to sympathize with the aliens, who are exploited by locals and abused by officials. They possess human traits (they’re proud, protective of their children and suspicious of legal documents), have a taste for cat food and can communicate with people. They’re also capable of decapitating someone with a swift kick.

The movie’s handheld-camera, documentary-style approach is played-out by now, but it serves District 9’s narrative, even if it sorta breaks the rules during the movie’s final act. By the end, the big-ass weapons come out, and District 9 swerves a little into popcorn-movie territory. But not even a ginormous robot suit can divert from the film’s undertones of what it means to be an alien in a place where you’ve lived for two decades. --Michael Gallucci

CULTURE JAMMING -- AUGUST 12

TOP PICK

This Is Spinal Tap

(MGM)

The greatest mockumentary ever made finally comes to Blu-ray in a stellar package that includes most of the old DVD’s extras (like deleted scenes, commentary and music videos). There’s also some new stuff, including a live version of “Stonehenge” from last year and an interview with Nigel from a National Geographic special. Turn it to 11.

BOOKS

Filthy Rich, Dark Entries

(Vertigo)

These two graphic novels in the new Vertigo Crime series pile on the dark and gritty. Filthy Rich (by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Victor Santos) is about an ex-football player and his gal; Dark Entries (by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell’Edera) centers on a haunted reality TV show. Both are loaded with plenty of sex, booze and blood.

MUSIC

Factory Records: Communications 1978-92

(Rhino)

This 63-song compilation (available on iTunes and other download services) includes just about every noteworthy song released by the venerable indie label that was brought to life in 24 Hour Party People. In addition to classics by Joy Division and New Order, OMD, Happy Mondays and Cabaret Voltaire show up in remixed and remastered glory.

BOOK

Precious Metal

(Da Capo)

Subtitled Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces, this in-depth look at some of the most brutal records ever made expands on interviews originally published in the music mag. Bands like Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death and Diamond Head are all here. So is Dio-era Black Sabbath. Devil horns!

CD

Elvis Presley: From Elvis in Memphis: Legacy Edition

(RCA/Legacy)

Just in time for the 32^nd anniversary of the King’s death, this two-disc reissue of his last great album piles on the bonus tracks. Originally released in 1969, Memphis is Elvis’ triumphant comeback after years of Hollywood hell. Extras include outtakes and non-LP singles, like “Suspicious Minds,” one of Elvis’ all-time best. --Michael Gallucci

REVIEW -- JACK PEÑATE: EVERYTHING IS NEW

JACK PEÑATE

Everything Is New

(XL)

On his 2007 debut album Matinée, London singer-songwriter Jack Peñate came off like a lovesick troubadour whose acoustic guitar-driven tunes fell somewhere between overwhelming glee and heartbreaking resignation. On Everything Is New, he takes the title quite literally, offering nine British soul songs that pour on the handclaps and horns. “Dance away defeat/Change has been released,” he sings on the title track, and dance he does … or at least that’s what he hopes you do. With shades of disco, tropicalia, Afrobeat and dancehall coursing through the grooves, Everything Is New is an invitation to shake your moneymaker from this previously over-earnest romantic. If Matinée’s easy reference point was Billy Bragg’s personal (not political) songs, this time it’s new-wave soul men like ABC who drive Peñate’s latest guise. Songs like “Pull My Heart Away,” “Be the One” and “Tonight’s Today” are soulfully good. --Michael Gallucci

REVIEW -- COBRA STARSHIP: HOT MESS

Cobra Starship

Hot Mess

(Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen)

When they formed back in 2006 as a one-off group to record a song for the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack, Cobra Starship’s aspirations were slight. Former Midtown singer Gabe Saporta gathered some of his old emo pals for a lark. Now three albums into a career, Cobra Starship are a full-time band and their squiggly synth-pop sounds a lot more committed than most of the music played by Saporta’s friends these days. The group still can’t go very far without an inside joke (“Pete Wentz Is the Only Reason We’re Famous”) or a cheerleading singalong (“Nice Guys Finish Last”). And Hot Mess’ over-glossed production is so sleek it borders on sterile. But “Good Girls Go Bad” is deservedly a hit, all hook and monster synths, plus some sticky vamping by Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester. They may still be looking out for the punch line, but Cobra Starship are getting seriously good at this. --Michael Gallucci

REVIEW -- ROD STEWART: ATLANTIC CROSSING; A NIGHT ON THE TOWN

Rod Stewart

Atlantic Crossing

A Night on the Town

(Warner Bros.)

Rod Stewart book-ended the ’70s with a great album (Every Picture Tells a Story) and a lousy one (Blondes Have More Fun). In between, he made a series of records that juggled a formula that pretty much got him through the decade: a side of rockers, a side of ballads, some well-known covers, some obscure covers, and a bunch of songs you’ll probably never want to hear again. Atlantic Crossing, from 1975, was Stewart’s second bomb in a row (following the previous year’s dismal Smiler), and his first album since moving to L.A. It’s hollow, tossed-off, and reflective of his new Hollywood lifestyle. The following year’s A Night on the Town is much better, thanks to some great songs, including “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright),” “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” and “The Killing of Georgie.” It was all downhill after this. These two-disc collectors’ editions include outtakes and alternate versions that provide little new insight into the period. --Michael Gallucci

MOVIE REVIEW -- INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to rewrite World War II as a 1970s drive-in movie starring Brad Pitt and almost as much blood as Saving Private Ryan. The still-thrilling director – whose last feature was 2004’s Kill Bill: Vol. 2, though he did contribute the “Death Proof” half to 2007’s Grindhouse – borrows a title and inspiration from a 1978 Italian film, throws in some typically clever wordplay and makes Inglourious Basterds a Dirty Dozen-style action pic with plenty of Tarantino-esque detours.

Opening with a “Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France” intro, Inglourious Basterds’ first chapter (yes, Tarantino divides his film into episodes again) introduces a couple characters – an SS colonel and a Jewish girl whose family he kills – who weave in and out of the movie. It’s 1941, and Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt, with cocked eyebrows, a Tennessee accent and Clark Gable’s mustache) recruits eight Jewish-American soldiers to “kill Nazis.” But because Aldo is descended from Native Americans, his gang doesn’t just kill Nazis; they scalp them too.

Aldo’s warriors eventually hook up with a German spy (played by National Treasure’s Diane Kruger), and they hatch a plan to take out most of the Third Reich’s top tier, including Hitler and Goebbels.

Inglourious Basterds unpsools more like a spaghetti western than a World War II movie. Ennio Morricone is on the soundtrack, and whole scenes play out like one of Sergio Leone’s classics. Tarantino’s first period film isn’t as word-heavy as his other movies (he really can’t have his SS officials spouting pop-culture commentary, though he sure does try). Still, it relies just as much on dialogue as action.

Tarantino again uses a series of vignettes -- all tied together by characters or plot -- to tell his story. There are some flashbacks, but otherwise this is Tarantino’s most linearly narrative work. It plods a little more than usual, but the director has loads of fun with this brutal, suspenseful and funny film. Bam-pow! titles introduce characters, Pitt hams up his snuff-sniffin’ officer and there’s even a scene where a Jew and Nazi discuss silent-movie comedians and G.W. Pabst’s films.

Even though Tarantino isn’t on rapid-fire here, there are parts of Inglourious Basterds that are every bit as accomplished as Pulp Fiction. He still gets a kick making movies, and the evidence is onscreen. (The climatic scene is set in a movie theater).

Inglourious Basterds messes around with a lot of facts, but Tarantino never suggests that it’s anything but film fantasy (wait till you see the ending). It’s an adventure that pays tribute to all the war movies over the years that got it right. It’s also a tribute to those that got it wrong. --Michael Gallucci

CULTURE JAMMING -- AUGUST 5

TOP PICK

Little King’s Story

(XSEED)

One of the best real-time strategy games for the Wii is also one of the best videogames of the year. There’s a whole world to explore as a newly appointed king of a land that’s filled with engaging characters and involving storylines. Prepare to put some major time in with this one. It’s a long adventure, but it’s also a fun and fulfilling one.

CD

Beastie Boys: Ill Communication

(Capitol/EMI)

The third Beasties reissue of the year oughta keep fans busy, since their new record has been pushed back. The 1994 follow-up to Check Your Head follows that album’s formula: some hip-hop, some funky instrumentals, some punk. “Sabotage” is here, but so are “Sure Shot,” “Root Down” and “Get It Together.” A second disc includes remixes and live cuts.

VIDEO

Coraline

(Universal)

This cool stop-motion fantasy by Henry Selick, who directed the cool stop-motion fantasy The Nightmare Before Christmas, is one of the year’s best movies. It’s about a little girl who falls into a world that isn’t what it appears to be. Be sure to watch it on Blu-ray, where the stunning visuals pop from the screen. The 3D version helps too.

VIDEOGAME

NCAA Football 10

(EA Sports)

Every year this title closes the gap on Madden for the best-football-sim title. This year’s outing (for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) goes in for the kill. There are tons of things to play around with here (including an online Season Showdown mode, where gamers build up credits based on strategies and trivia contests), so it’s not just about game day.

VIDEO

12 Monkeys

(Universal)

Terry Gilliam’s 1995 apocalyptic masterpiece, now available on Blu-ray, is even more dystopian than his earlier Brazil. Bruce Willis plays a time traveler searching for the cause of a virus that wiped out most of mankind. Brad Pitt is one of the crazies he meets along the way. The HD makes it all look terrifyingly surreal. --Michael Gallucci

REVIEW -- AMANDA BLANK: I LOVE YOU

Amanda Blank

I Love You

(Downtown)

Philadelphia rapper Amanda Mallory picked a fitting moniker. On her debut album, Amanda Blank glides through chilly beats and a detached demeanor that are as empty as her soulless vocals. It’s hipster hip-hop with raunchy rhymes about fucking designed to shock, awe and wink at its equally hip audience. But Blank is way too self-conscious to pull it off. It doesn’t help that the various producers (including Diplo) fill the space with beats ranging from merely robotic to totally annoying. But I Love You’s biggest problem is Blank, whose hipster cred rose a few years back with an appearance on a Spank Rock track. Spread out over far-from-breezy 33 minutes, she comes off like a naughty little girl who just figured out she can make people squirm by rapping about her cooter. Pretty vacant. --Michael Gallucci

Review: The Stone Roses (20th Anniversary Release)

The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses (20^th Anniversary Release)

(Silvertone/Legacy)

Twenty years ago, when the Stone Roses’ eponymous debut was released, it seemed like a revelation. Combining psychedelic wah-wah, dance-y grooves, and Britrock sensibilities that stretched all the way back to the ’60s, the band pretty much was a living, breathing BBC radio station. Then they took five years to make a lame follow-up, and it turned out that the first record wasn’t so revelatory after all. This 20^th anniversary reissue includes the original album, a CD of demos, and a disc of B-sides and other leftovers (depending on which of the four different packages you buy). Many songs (“I Wanna Be Adored,” “She Bangs the Drums”) hold up, the long, trippy “Elephant Stone” should have been on the album, and there’s a sharp pop awareness to many of the bonus tracks. But there are also plenty of druggy tunes that stall in place, going nowhere. Your enjoyment of the two-plus hours of extras depends on how much you remember, or forgot, over the past 20 years. --Michael Gallucci